Wiktionary

robot

See also: Robot, robót, robòt, and róbot
Languages (27)
English
Afrikaans • Basque • Catalan • Cebuano • Czech • Danish • Dutch • French • Galician • Hungarian • Indonesian • Italian • Jamaican Creole • Latvian • Norwegian Bokmål • Norwegian Nynorsk • Polish • Portuguese • Romanian • Serbo-Croatian • Slovene • Spanish • Swedish • Tagalog • Turkish • Welsh
Page categories

English

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WOTD – 17 December 2006

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From German Robot, from a West Slavic language, ultimately related to Etymology 2, below.

Noun

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robot (uncountable)

  1. (now historical) A system of serfdom used in Central Europe, under which a tenant's rent was paid in forced labour. [from 19th c.]
    • 1849, Littell's Living Age, volume 23, page 309:
      “I say again, down with the robot!—he is a dog who yields it!”
    • 2007, Tim Blanning, The Pursuit of Glory, Penguin, published 2008, page 159:
      Although the robot varied from region to region, it was rarely less than burdensome.

Etymology 2

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Borrowed from Czech robot, from robota (“drudgery, servitude”). Coined in the 1920 science-fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek after having been suggested to him by his brother Josef, and taken into English without change.[1]

Noun

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robot (plural robots)

 
An industrial robot (sense 2) engraving on a metal plate.
  1. (chiefly science fiction) An intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal. [from 20th c.]
    • c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum’s Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC, Act I, page 17:
      Young Rossum invented a worker with a minimum amount of requirements. He had to simplify him. He rejected everything that did not contribute directly to the progress of work—everything that makes man more expensive. In fact, he rejected man and made the Robot. My dear Miss Glory, the Robots are not people. Mechanically they are more perfect than we are, they have an enormously developed intelligence, but they have no soul.
    • 2010 January 26, Tom Chivers, Iain McDiarmid, The Telegraph:
      The robots in Dick's novel, loosely adapted by Ridley Scott into the film Blade Runner, were so similar to humans that when they went rogue, trained bounty hunters were called in to perform psychological tests to see whether suspected androids lacked human empathy.
  2. A machine built to carry out some complex task or group of tasks by physically moving, especially one which can be programmed. [from 20th c.]
    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:robot
    Hypernym: automaton
    Hyponym: android
    We have a robot in the house that does the vacuuming.
    • 2010 May 16, Tim Webb, The Guardian:
      It's painfully slow and complex work which has never been attempted before in these conditions: the small box-shaped robots, equipped with two claws, are operating in almost freezing water 5,000ft below the surface, in pitch black and strong currents.
  3. (figuratively) A person who does not seem to have any emotions or individuality. [from 20th c.]
    • 1973 December 22, Satya, “It Is Not We Who Must Change”, in Gay Community News, volume 1, number 27, page 3:
      Straight society tries to change us by several means. Most of the time, it is mental torture, though physical abuse is not uncommon. We are programmed to be straight starting from the day we are born, and every action, word, and feeling must conform to the straight image. If we DO decide to be free rather than to be robots, here are some of the consequences.
    • 2006, Murray N. Rothbard, Making Economic Sense, page xiv:
      Yet surely he was a humorless robot of a man, spewing forth lonely and bitter critiques of all those lesser mortals with whom he could not identify.
  4. (South Africa) A traffic light (from earlier robot policeman). [from 20th c.]
  5. (surveying) A theodolite which follows the movements of a prism and can be used by a one-man crew.
  6. (dance) A style of dance popular in disco in which the dancer imitates the stiff movements of a stereotypical android robot.
Hyponyms
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Derived terms
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Descendants
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Translations
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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Etymology 3

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Referencing the origin of the name of the 4chan imageboard /r9k/ (created in 2008), so-called because it implements the ROBOT9000 algorithm by Randall Munroe to prevent the reposting of content.

Possibly overlapping with the sense of robot (“a person who does not seem to have any emotions”), alluding to autism, due to the prevalence of personal stories describing awkward or embarrassing situations on the board.

Noun

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robot (plural robots)

  1. (Internet slang, 4chan) A habitual poster on the /r9k/ board on 4chan; a member of the /r9k/ community.
    • 2015 October 1, David Kravets, “Ominous messages left on 4chan day before Oregon college killings [Updated]”, in Ars Technica‎[2], archived from the original on 2022-12-06:
      One anonymous message addressed to "fellow robots" hoped readers would have "an enjoyable Elliot Rodger day"—a reference to the shooter who killed six near a Santa Barbara university last year.
    • 2015 October 3, Jay Hathaway, “How 4chan Trolled Two of Its Friends by Framing Them for the Oregon Mass Shooting”, in Gawker‎[3], archived from the original on 2022-11-20:
      Posters on the board are locked in an ongoing debate about who can be one of them— a "robot." Can white guys be robots, despite their privilege? Can black guys? Women love them! It goes on and on. Only one rule really seems to be agreed upon: "If you have no friends and no gf you are a robot."
    • 2015 October 5, Justin Wm. Moyer, anonymous quotee, “Philadelphia colleges on alert after 4chan post threatens violence Monday”, in The Washington Post‎[4], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2016-06-24:
      It continued: "On October 5, 2015 at 1:00 p.m. CT, a fellow robot will take up arms against a university near Philadelphia. His cries will be heard, his victims will cower in fear, and the strength of the Union will decay a little more."
    • 2019, Dale Beran, It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Memed Donald Trump into Office, New York, N.Y.: All Points Books, →ISBN:
      As /r9k/ robots posted and reposted Pepes to playfully mock their status as grotesque outsiders whose very visage was disturbing to "normies," they ushered in a renaissance of frogs that soon appealed to all the netizens who every year had a little more in common with withdrawn, internet-soaked hikikomori.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Adams, Caralee (2021 March 24) “Major SciFi Discovery Hiding in Plain Sight at the Internet Archive”, in Internet Archive Blogs‎[1], Internet Archive

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Afrikaans

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FWOTD – 25 January 2021

Etymology

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Borrowed from English robot.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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robot (plural robotte)

  1. robot
  2. traffic light
    • 1997, Riana Scheepers, Dogters van Afrika. Verhale oor Suid-Afrikaanse Vroue, Tafelberg (publ.).
      As die robotte na groen oorslaan, brul hulle en storm vorentoe.
      When the traffic lights switch to green, they roar and storm forward.

Basque

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Etymology

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Ultimately from Czech robot.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /robot/ [ro.β̞ot̪]
  • Rhymes: -obot
  • Hyphenation: ro‧bot

Noun

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robot anim

  1. robot

Declension

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Declension of robot (animate, ending in consonant)
indefinite singular plural
absolutive robot robota robotak
ergative robotek robotak robotek
dative roboti robotari robotei
genitive roboten robotaren roboten
comitative robotekin robotarekin robotekin
causative robotengatik robotarengatik robotengatik
benefactive robotentzat robotarentzat robotentzat
instrumental robotez robotaz robotez
inessive robotengan robotarengan robotengan
locative — — —
allative robotengana robotarengana robotengana
terminative robotenganaino robotarenganaino robotenganaino
directive robotenganantz robotarenganantz robotenganantz
destinative robotenganako robotarenganako robotenganako
ablative robotengandik robotarengandik robotengandik
partitive robotik — —
prolative robot-tzat — —
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Further reading

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Catalan

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Etymology

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From Czech robot.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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robot m (plural robots)

  1. robot

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Cebuano

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Etymology

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From English robot, from Czech robot, from robota (“drudgery, servitude”). Coined in the 1921 science-fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek after having been suggested to him by his brother Josef.

Pronunciation

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  • Hyphenation: ro‧bot

Noun

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robot

  1. a machine built to carry out some complex task or group of tasks by physically moving, especially one which can be programmed
  2. an intelligent mechanical being designed to look like a human or other creature, and usually made from metal
  3. (figuratively) a person who does not seem to have any emotions
  4. a style of dance popular in disco whereby the dancer impersonates the movement of a robot

Czech

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Etymology

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From robota. Coined by Czech writer Karel Čapek, it first appeared in the 1921 science-fiction play R.U.R. by his brother Karel Čapek.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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robot m anim

  1. robot (in humanoid form)

Declension

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Declension of robot (hard masculine animate)
singular plural
nominative robot roboti
genitive robota robotů
dative robotovi, robotu robotům
accusative robota roboty
vocative robote roboti
locative robotovi, robotu robotech
instrumental robotem roboty

Noun

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robot m anim or m inan

  1. robot (in non-humanoid form)

Declension

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Declension of robot (hard masculine inanimate // hard masculine animate)
singular plural
nominative robot roboty, roboti
genitive robotu, robota robotů
dative robotu, robotovi robotům
accusative robot, robota roboty
vocative robote roboty, roboti
locative robotu, robotovi robotech
instrumental robotem roboty
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Descendants

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Further reading

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  • “robot”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
  • “robot”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989
  • “robot”, in Internetová jazyková příručka (in Czech)

Danish

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Etymology

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Ultimately from Czech robot.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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robot c (singular definite robotten, plural indefinite robotter)

  1. robot

References

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Dutch

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Etymology

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Borrowed, likely from German Robot, from Czech robot. The plural is likely influenced by English or French.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈroː.bɔt/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: ro‧bot

Noun

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robot m (plural robots or robotten, diminutive robotje n)

  1. robot [from 1921]
    Synonym: kunstmens

Derived terms

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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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From Czech robot.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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robot m (plural robots)

  1. robot
    Je ne suis pas un robot. ― I am not a robot.

Derived terms

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Descendants

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Further reading

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Galician

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Galician Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia gl

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /roˈbɔt/ [roˈβ̞ɔt̪]
  • Rhymes: -ɔt
  • Hyphenation: ro‧bot

Noun

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robot m (plural robots)

  1. robot

References

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Hungarian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [ˈrobot]
  • Hyphenation: ro‧bot
  • Rhymes: -ot

Etymology 1

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From Bavarian robat, robold, from Czech robota (“forced labour, drudgery”).

Noun

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robot (plural robotok)

  1. (historical) socage, forced labour
  2. (figuratively) hard work, drudgery
Declension
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Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)
singular plural
nominative robot robotok
accusative robotot robotokat
dative robotnak robotoknak
instrumental robottal robotokkal
causal-final robotért robotokért
translative robottá robotokká
terminative robotig robotokig
essive-formal robotként robotokként
essive-modal — —
inessive robotban robotokban
superessive roboton robotokon
adessive robotnál robotoknál
illative robotba robotokba
sublative robotra robotokra
allative robothoz robotokhoz
elative robotból robotokból
delative robotról robotokról
ablative robottól robotoktól
non-attributive
possessive - singular 		roboté robotoké
non-attributive
possessive - plural 		robotéi robotokéi
Possessive forms of robot
possessor single possession multiple possessions
1st person sing. robotom robotjaim
2nd person sing. robotod robotjaid
3rd person sing. robotja robotjai
1st person plural robotunk robotjaink
2nd person plural robototok robotjaitok
3rd person plural robotjuk robotjaik
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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From Czech robot, from robota (“forced labour, drudgery”). Coined in the 1921 science-fiction play R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) by Karel Čapek.

Noun

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robot (plural robotok)

  1. robot
Declension
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Same as above.

Derived terms
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Further reading

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  • (socage; drudgery): robot in Bárczi, Géza and László Országh. A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára (“The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language”, abbr.: ÉrtSz.). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN

Indonesian

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Indonesian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia id

Etymology

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Borrowed from French robot, from Czech robot.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈro.bot/, [ˈro.bot̪̚]
  • Rhymes: -bɔt
  • Hyphenation: ro‧bot

Noun

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robot (plural robot-robot, first-person possessive robotku, second-person possessive robotmu, third-person possessive robotnya)

  1. robot

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Italian

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from French robot, from Czech robot.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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robot m (invariable)

  1. robot
  2. (computing) bot

Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ robot in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

Anagrams

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Jamaican Creole

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Etymology

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(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈɹʷoː.bʌt/
  • Hyphenation: ro‧bot

Noun

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robot (plural robot dem, quantified robot)

  1. (slang) illegal taxi
    Mi n'ave nuh big money fi spen' pon taxi. See one robot a come deh. Mek wi tek it.
    I don't have a lot of money to spend on a cab. Here's an illegal taxi. Let's take that.
    • 2013, “Robot – Patois Definition”, in Jamaican Patwah‎[5] (in English):
      “Slang expression for a vehicle that is operating as a taxi without the proper license that is required. […] ”

See also

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Further reading

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  • robot at JamaicanPatwah.com

Latvian

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Verb

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robot (transitive, 2nd conjugation, present roboju, robo, robo, past roboju)

  1. to notch
  2. to jag
  3. to make an incision (on)

Conjugation

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conjugation of robot
INDICATIVE (īstenības izteiksme) IMPERATIVE
(pavēles izteiksme)
Present
(tagadne) 		Past
(pagātne) 		Future
(nākotne)
1st pers. sg. es roboju roboju robošu —
2nd pers. sg. tu robo roboji robosi robo
3rd pers. sg. viņš, viņa robo roboja robos lai robo
1st pers. pl. mēs robojam robojām robosim robosim
2nd pers. pl. jūs robojat robojāt robosiet,
robosit 		robojiet
3rd pers. pl. viņi, viņas robo roboja robos lai robo
RENARRATIVE (atstāstījuma izteiksme) PARTICIPLES (divdabji)
Present robojot Present Active 1 (Adj.) robojošs
Past esot robojis Present Active 2 (Adv.) robodams
Future robošot Present Active 3 (Adv.) robojot
Imperative lai robojot Present Active 4 (Obj.) robojam
CONDITIONAL (vēlējuma izteiksme) Past Active robojis
Present robotu Present Passive robojams
Past būtu robojis Past Passive robots
DEBITIVE (vajadzības izteiksme) NOMINAL FORMS
Indicative (būt) jārobo Infinitive (nenoteiksme) robot
Conjunctive 1 esot jārobo Negative Infinitive nerobot
Conjunctive 2 jārobojot Verbal noun robošana

Synonyms

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Norwegian Bokmål

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Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

Etymology

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Borrowed from Czech robot.

Noun

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robot m (definite singular roboten, indefinite plural roboter, definite plural robotene)

  1. a robot

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

Etymology

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Borrowed from Czech robot.

Noun

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robot m (definite singular roboten, indefinite plural robotar, definite plural robotane)

  1. a robot

References

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Polish

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Polish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pl

Etymology

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Borrowed from Czech robot.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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robot m animal (female equivalent (rare) robotka)

  1. robot

Declension

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Declension of robot
singular plural
nominative robot roboty
genitive robota robotów
dative robotowi robotom
accusative robot/robota roboty
instrumental robotem robotami
locative robocie robotach
vocative robocie roboty

Derived terms

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adjective
nouns
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adjectives
adverb
nouns
verb

Further reading

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  • robot in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
  • robot in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Portuguese

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Pronunciation

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Noun

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robot m (plural robots)

  1. Alternative form of robô

Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from French robot, from Czech robot.

Noun

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robot m (plural roboți)

  1. robot

Declension

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Declension of robot
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (un) robot robotul (niște) roboți roboții
genitive/dative (unui) robot robotului (unor) roboți roboților
vocative robotule roboților

Serbo-Croatian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /rôbot/
  • Hyphenation: ro‧bot

Noun

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rȍbot m (Cyrillic spelling ро̏бот)

  1. robot

Declension

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Declension of robot
singular plural
nominative robot roboti
genitive robota robota
dative robotu robotima
accusative robot robote
vocative robote roboti
locative robotu robotima
instrumental robotom robotima

Slovene

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Slovene Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sl

Etymology

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Borrowed from Czech robot.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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robọ̑t m anim

  1. robot

Inflection

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 The diacritics used in this section of the entry are non-tonal. If you are a native tonal speaker, please help by adding the tonal marks.
Masculine anim., hard o-stem
nom. sing. robót
gen. sing. robóta
singular dual plural
nominative
(imenovȃlnik) 		robót robóta robóti
genitive
(rodȋlnik) 		robóta robótov robótov
dative
(dajȃlnik) 		robótu robótoma robótom
accusative
(tožȋlnik) 		robóta robóta robóte
locative
(mẹ̑stnik) 		robótu robótih robótih
instrumental
(orọ̑dnik) 		robótom robótoma robóti

Further reading

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  • “robot”, in Slovarji Inštituta za slovenski jezik Frana Ramovša ZRC SAZU, portal Fran
  • “robot”, in Termania, Amebis
  • See also the general references

Spanish

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English robot, from Czech.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /roˈbot/ [roˈβ̞ot̪]
  • Rhymes: -ot
  • Syllabification: ro‧bot

Noun

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robot m (plural robots)

  1. robot

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Swedish

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Swedish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia sv

Etymology

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Borrowed from Czech robot. Coined by Czech author Karel Čapek in 1920 via the play R.U.R.. Attested in Swedish since 1921.

In weaponry sense attested since 1944.

Noun

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robot c

  1. a robot (machine that carries out complex tasks)
    Plåt-Niklas är en robot
    Sheet-Niklas is a robot
  2. (weaponry) a missile, guided missile
    Synonym: missil
    Hypernym: robotvapen
    Hyponyms: kryssningsrobot, luftvärnsrobot, sjömålsrobot
    Holonym: robotsystem

Declension

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Declension of robot
nominative genitive
singular indefinite robot robots
definite roboten robotens
plural indefinite robotar robotars
definite robotarna robotarnas

Derived terms

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(Robot):

(Weaponry):

References

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Tagalog

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English robot, from Czech robot, from robota (“drudgery, servitude”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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robot (Baybayin spelling ᜇᜓᜊᜓᜆ᜔)

  1. robot

Further reading

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  • “robot”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018

Turkish

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Turkish Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia tr

Etymology

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Borrowed from French robot, from Czech robot.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ɾoˈbot/
  • Hyphenation: ro‧bot
  • Audio:(file)

Noun

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robot (definite accusative robotu, plural robotlar)

  1. robot [from 1933]
  2. Ellipsis of mutfak robotu (“food processor”).

Declension

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Inflection
Nominative robot
Definite accusative robotu
Singular Plural
Nominative robot robotlar
Definite accusative robotu robotları
Dative robota robotlara
Locative robotta robotlarda
Ablative robottan robotlardan
Genitive robotun robotların

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Welsh

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Etymology

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Borrowed from English robot, from Czech robot.

Noun

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robot m (plural robotiaid or robotau, not mutable)

  1. robot

Usage notes

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The plural form robotiaid is preferred for humanoid robots or androids whereas the plural form robotau designates machines.

Derived terms

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Further reading

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  • R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke et al., editors (1950–present), “robot”, in Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
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